


Fulfilling Destiny

by oh_heccity



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Bonding, Fluff and Angst, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Night Terrors, Nightmares, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Sign Language, Signing, Team Bonding, Team as Family, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2020-10-06 18:54:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20511854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_heccity/pseuds/oh_heccity
Summary: They were sent to this Hyrule to find another hero but who knew that the first person to help them was actually the hero they were looking for.Turns out this hero is hiding more things than the others knew.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> a bad summary but i promise that the story is actually better uwu
> 
> also a few things before you read on (so please read on so you understand a few things or at least the first point)
> 
> 1) "[with italicized words]" shows that Wild is 'speaking' (its sign language) wild will eventually verbally speak!! i for some ungodly reason wanted him to sign for this chapter
> 
> 2) i am also a fool and decided to post this when when school is just starting so updates might be a little slow because i lowkey want to but work into school once again for some ungodly reason 
> 
> 3) this is my first fanfic in this fandom so everyone is really ooc :(( 
> 
> 4) ive also only really played a few loz games (i dont really know fours, hyrules and quite possibly legend and warriors story line :( )
> 
> 5) the title is also a work in progress ig, im absolutely horrid at figuring out titles to somewhat match the story

The sun was just rising over the hills when the eight heroes stood up, observing the land. This Hyrule was new, if it even was Hyrule. Out of all eight of them, none of them recognized where they were. Each and everyone of the heroes were used to smaller fields with every key landmark on the horizon and accessible by walking or by horse. So far the largest Hyrule they’ve heard about or have been to was Wind’s. It was so big that everytime Wind talked about his home, he always mentioned that it was just a big ocean and how he had to take a boat everywhere to get from island to island. Whoever’s Hyrule this was, it easily trumped the youngest of the eight.

It was also far too silent for anyone's liking. They were all used to the noisy villages and if they were ever on the road, they were used to the merchants calling them over to buy their wares. But all they could hear was the occasional bird call in the distance.

Thankfully they had arrived in this new place on a beaten down dirt path that cut through the tall grass, leaving them with an easy decision to make. Either go left or right and hope to find a village to find out where they are.

“Which way should we go?” Time asked after observing the land for himself, taking note of the large castle looming in the distance to the right of the path and strange rock formations dotting the fields around them.

“I say we go left,” Wind piped up, giving Time the answer to his previous question. “You always go left when you’re in a maze!”

Warrior lightly hit Wind in the back of his head. Only hard enough to make the boy stumble “That’s only for mazes. The wilderness isn’t a maze.”

“This place might as well be a maze, this place looks huge!” Sky said who was also turning his head around to look at the scenery.

Not wanting a fight to break out between the group, Time quickly jumped into the conversation. “We can go left. It doesn’t seem like it’ll matter which way we go, it all looks the same.”

Wind perked up with a wide smile plastered on his face, obviously happy that Time took his side on the decision on which way to go as he began to walk down the path with the others following him.

* * *

When the group started to walk down the path, the sun was just rising but now, hours later, the sun was high in the sky and beating down on everyone's necks and backs. Even worse they were still stuck in the blasted field and Time was too wary of this place to go off the path to find water and shade so they could rest.

“Are we there yet?” Wind whined as he dragged his feet, kicking up dirt from the path making Four who was walking next to him cough and cover his mouth and nose with his sleeve. The youngest was obviously tired much like everyone else was.

“You don’t even know where there is Wind, stop complaining.” Four grumbled, also tired but instead of voicing it, he took his irritation out on the group.

“But we’ve been walking for _hours_!” 

Four looked ready to throttle Wind so Time quickly jumped into the conversation. “We can stop soon to take a rest. Look,” Time pointed to a small forest about a mile away. “we can stop there and rest for a while before walking again.”

“Do you think there’s any water nearby? It’s been half a day since we’ve refilled our water skins.” Twilight fell into step next to his mentor who sighed as he watched the others walk towards the small cluster of trees with more energy than what they had for the majority of the day.

“I can only hope pup. There has to be some sort of water nearby.”

“Hey Time!” Hyrule waved his hand to get the oldests attention. “There’s a horse tied up over here!”

Giving his protege a look, the two of them ran over to where Hyrule was calling them over to. “Her owner must be close by, she looks well fed.” Time said. “We can rest here, just stay on guard we have no clue who’s out here.”

Everyone gave their own version of agreement as they all settled down to rest in the shade before Time made them start walking again. Time even noticed Twilight giving the horse an apple from an apple tree a few paces away.

A few minutes passed in silence before Legend noticed someone watching them a few paces away from the trees. Slowly one by one of the group noticed the stranger watching them, despite the heat, the stranger had a hood on, covering their face. Time noticed that Warriors reached for his sword that was still strapped to his side.

“What should we do? Should we fight them?” Sky asked, his eyes never leaving the stranger.

“No,” Time held out his hand to show that everyone needed to calm down but still remain on guard. “We should ask them where the nearest village is.”

The stranger never said a word as they walked closer to the trees but stopping when they noticed the eight of them taking a step back when they got closer. The stranger quickly hopped up on their horse, grabbing the reins and beginning to walk away before Time spoke up, determined to get the answers they needed.

“Excuse me, do you know where the nearest village is?” Time asked before the stranger could walk away.

The stranger sat there for a moment without saying a word before they removed their hands from the reins and then quickly moving them.

“What is he doing?” Time heard Legend ask Twilight, not exactly whispering and if Time could hear what Legend was saying, the stranger could probably also hear it.

“Be nice, they’re signing” Twilight elbowed Legend in the side as he gage the other a glare, actually whispering so the stranger couldn’t hear them. Then in a louder voice, Twilight translated to the rest of them, “They’re asking what we need,”

Legend looked between Twilight and the strangers hands before looking back at Twilight, obviously confused on how the other knew sign but Twilight asked another question. “Do you know where the nearest village is?”

The stranger signed something as Twilight translated. “They say there’s a village two days from here.”

“Two days?” Hyrule squawked, eyes bulging at the thought of walking two more days. “Is there anything closer?

The stranger’s hands were still as they gave the question a few moments of thought before their hands were moving at rapid speed, grabbing Twilight’s attention.

“There’s a stable a couple of hours away from here he says. He also says that we can stock up on supplies.” Twilight translated as the stranger moved his hands. “He can also show us the way if we want.”

Time looked around at the group to see if they were okay if allowing a stranger lead them somewhere totally unknown in hopes of finding shelter for the night. “Please do show us the way.”

The stranger nodded as they got of their horse and wrapped their hands in the reins as they started to walk down the path the way the group was already walking before they took a break.

* * *

“_It’s not often that I see other travelers on the road, what brings you to the Great Plateau anyway?_” The stranger signed to Twilight who of course translated it to everyone else.

“We’re looking for someone but we don’t know who!” Wind said cheerfully as he gave the stranger a smile. The two of them had caught on like a wildfire, of course most of the conversations were one sided but the stranger allowed the younger to ramble on about his adventures and when Twilight was paying attention to see the other sign, the stranger talked about some of his own.

“_I hope that you find this person, Hyrule is a big place._”

“Do you know anywhere were we can find information on this person?” Time asked, the first time he spoke to the stranger since he first joined the group.

“_I know someone who goes by Impa in Kakariko Village. She’ll probably know where your friend is._”

“And how far away is Kakariko Village?”

“_Another two days. I’m heading the same way so I can show you the way if you’d like._”

Time gave the others a look, silently asking if he should say yes, taking the stranger up on his offer of showing them the way to Kakariko Village. Wind looked over the moon to spend another two days with the man, Twilight had seemed to warm up to the stranger as well despite him not contributing to the conversation all that much. The others didn’t seem so keen to be lead to the village without knowing who the stranger really was but they all nodded considering they had no clue _how_ to get there in the first place.

“Please do, can you tell us your name first?”

“_I’m Link,_” The stranger signed and everyone’s eyes went wide, was this truly the hero they were looking for or was this just the coincidence of having the same name? “_We’re at the stables now so we can stop for tonight and get some supplies before leaving tomorrow morning._”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first night in the stables and the first day of walking to Kakariko village

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> link still talks like "[italicized]", next chapter he'll be talking wuwu
> 
> there is also one (1) extremely minor swear word, so minor i dont even count it as a swear word. lmao what does that tell you about me

“Do you really think Link could be the hero we’re looking for? I mean, he just looks like a normal traveler! A bit strange but a traveler nonetheless!” Hyrule asked in the small room the eight of them were sharing for the night. Wind and Twilight were still out in the main room with Link, the youngest said he wasn’t ready to leave the mysterious guide alone after connecting with him for the better half of the day. “Maybe Link is just a common name around these parts,”

Four scoffed, “How common can the name be? Every prophet that we’re in has the same base, the hero who is named _Link_ saves Hyrule from Ganon! We all have the same name and so does Link who just _happened_ to show up when we were lost! _He_ has to be the hero here."

"That logic is flimsy at best Four and you know it!" Legend argued. "All we know is that Link is a _traveler_ who just happened to stumble across eight horribly lost travelers! We don't even know if there is a Ganon this time line, sure everything is a little quiet but everything seems peaceful here." 

"What do you say Sky? Usually the Master Sword tells us things like this and you’re the only one who’s the closest to it!” Four suddenly turned to Sky who jumped slightly. 

Sky thought about what Four and Legend had said for a moment, looking at the Master Sword that was laying on his pack with a sad expression. “Fi hasn’t said anything to me since we came here and I don’t know why. She doesn’t really do this.”

“So are we just waiting to arrive at Kakariko Village and talk to his Impa character Link was talking about?” Warriors looked at Time, seeing if the oldest and the pseudo leader of the group (the other seven heroes totally thought Time as the main leader with Twilight and Warriors close behind).

Time nodded, looking somewhat grim at the thought of not figuring out who they were looking for and why they were here. “I feel like that’s the only way and we can’t exactly ditch our only guide. Not only do Wind and Twilight seem to be good friends with him but Link is our only guide here, we have no clue where to go from here. We’d get lost easily.”

“How bad can Link possibly be? Wind seems to like him and so does Twilight!” Sky exclaimed as he sat down on the bed, careful of everyone’s packs that were laying on the bed. “And Twilight doesn’t like strangers!”

“They do seem to be a little buddy-buddy for just meeting,” Legend agreed with Sky. “Link and Twilight I mean.”

“Let him have friends Legend.” Time waved his hand at Legend, dismissing the fact of how fast of friends or at least acquaintances the two were despite how worried he was himself. “We have a full day of walking ahead of us, it’s best we go to sleep.”

* * *

“Link! Did you know that everyone is named Link too?” Wind asked the still hooded man, as he fiddled with the rim of the bottle of milk he had finished.

“_Doesn’t that get confusing with everyone’s name being the same?_” Link signed, with a confused look on his face. “_This is the first time I heard someone having the same name as me. My name isn’t exactly the most common._”

“There’s always a first for everything!” Wind said excitedly.

“_Is that why your name is Wind instead of Link? Hearing some of the others names confused me, I guess I just got used to hearing names that it surprised me to hear such,_” Link hesitated for a moment trying to find the right word before continuing. “_Simple names._”

“I guess our names are kind of simple. But they’re more nicknames than our actual names, having nicknames just makes having the same name easier!”

“_So it doesn’t bother the others that I have the same name as well?_”

“It shouldn’t? I mean, it doesn’t bother me at least and I guess you aren’t going to stay with the group after Kakariko village so giving you a nickname seems counterproductive.”

Link let out a small hum as he leaned back in his chair.

“Where are you staying tonight Link? I didn’t see you order a room when we checked in.” Twilight suddenly asked, after letting the two of them talk to each other.

“_Probably outside, I’m always on the road so I’m used to sleeping on the road._”

“Won’t you get cold?” Wind butted into the conversation, “We can all share a room! We can’t have our guide only getting sick.”

Link gave the youngest a small smile that was barely visible by his hood as he ruffled Wind’s hair. “_I’ve slept outside more times than I can count, the Great Plateau doesn’t get that cold at night. But if it makes you feel better I’ll stick close to the fire._”

Wind pouted slightly at the thought of not being able to spend any more time with his new friend. “I’ll see you in the morning as soon as the sun rises!”

“_As soon as the sun rises?_” Link signed with a teasing glint in his eyes.

Twilight let out his own small laugh, “You’re just as bad as Sky, you’re always the last one up.”

“You’re usually one of the first people up Twi! Can you wake me up when you do, I wanna hear more of Link’s stories!” Wind looked at Twilight who was in the process of getting up from the table, the three of them were sitting at.

“Of course but that means you can’t grumble about being woken up early tomorrow.”

Wind nodded as he got up as well. “Good night Link! We’ll see you in the morning!”

Link smiled slightly as he moved his hands, signing ‘good night’ before heading outside himself.

* * *

Surprisingly when Time woke up, he wasn’t one of the firsts to wake up and when Time gave it another moment of thought to look around the small room, he noticed that Wind was already awake considering the youngest wasn’t in the room which was quite odd considering Wind was never up this early in the morning.

Remembering that the group was making their way to Kakariko village today, Time grabbed his pack full of new supplies they had bought the day before and made his way outside to see Twilight and Wind up with Link sitting around a dwindling fire.

“Good morning Time,” Twilight greeted when he saw Time walk up to them.

“Mornin’ Pup,” He replied, sitting down next to his protege. “Wind is up already? I would have assumed he would have slept in for a couple of hours until it was time for us to go.”

Wind squawked as he shot the eldest a glare,. “I don’t always sleep in that late!” Wind said with a pout evident in his voice before he turned back to Link, watching his hands move with an awe filled expression despite not knowing what he was signing.

“_Is everyone ready to leave? I’d like if we leave soon so we can make the most of daylight._” Link signed, directing the question towards Time.

“I believe that the four of us are the only ones awake. The others usually don’t up until the sun is just over the horizon unless you’re Wind and Sky. Those two would sleep all day if we let them.”

Wind let out an offended noise as he jumped up from where he was sitting on the ground, pointing an accusing finger at Time. “I do _not_ sleep in that long! I can wake up right at dawn if I wanted too!”

“_We should get moving soon. It gets dangerous out here at night if you don’t have cover and I doubt anyone would like that._” Link signed. “_Have the others rested enough for a day of walking?_”

“Some of them will probably complain about being woken up but we can start moving soon.”

Link nodded as he stood up, brushing off the dirt from his cloak. “_We’ll meet at the front gates in half a hour._”

* * *

“So Link,” Hyrule broke the solitude that the other was in for all of morning and a few hours of the afternoon. “What are those weird lookin’ rocks? We’ve seen them all over this goddess-damn place , too many times for them to be actual rock formations.”

Link looked up to see where Hyrule was pointing and the air around Link became tense as he brought out his hands from beneath his cloak. “_Guardians_.”

“What do you mean ‘guardians’?” Four jumped into the conversation, peaked by Link’s short answer.

“_Protectors of Hyrule before they went rouge._” Link stopped for a moment, hands poised in mid-air before moving. “_Or so how the story goes._”

“How the story goes? What do you mean by that?” Wind bounded up to Link’s side.

“_Guardians were supposed to protect us than Ganon came a long time ago and turned against the people in Castle Town. Majority of them have corroded away but there’s a few a them around. The ones that are still around are extremely dangerous._”

“_Dangerous_?” Hyrule squawked. “How dangerous are they really? Sure they’re big and scary but how much damage could they have really done?”

“_Look,_” Link pointed towards a stone wall that was broken. “_Guardians did that without a second thought and no resistance. They could do the same with a body._”

In the back of the group, Legend looked at Time, his face slightly drained of colour after hearing Twilight translating Link’s signing for the others. “He can’t be serious right? Please tell me he’s just trying to scare us.”

With the cloak hood still covering Link’s face, it was hard to see the other’s facial expression. “I can’t tell. I don’t think we can really counter what he says anyway, Link has lived here his entire life and we’ve only been here for a day or two.”

Although hesitant, Legend agreed with Time’s words looking at the empty shells of the Guardians.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter, kakariko village!!
> 
> i was originally going to be writing two (2) chapters of them walking to the village but i couldnt think of anything to happen. because as you can probably tell from this chapter (that im not that proud of and cranked out in a day or two), i have no concrete plot which isnt the best :^( i really only wanted to write wild angst and didnt take the time to have a plan uwu


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finally made it to Kakariko Village and learn something new about their strange guide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) wild finally talks!!! can we get a hell yea!!!! although in the first part he does still sign 
> 
> 2) i know that my timing for how far things are but i dont really care??? im just trying to make them more realistic or im trying to!!
> 
> 3) also happy area 51 raid day uwu go get those alien cheeks!

“_We’re here,_” Link signed as they entered through a gate and instantly children flooded around Link’s legs, their little hands lightly grasping at Link’s cloak as they looked up at the older one with awe visible in their eyes.

“Mister Link! You’re back from your adventure and you brought some friends!” One child exclaimed as she looked at the others standing behind Link.

Another child piped up, not seeming to be interested in the strangers who had just arrived in the village. “Did you bring anything for us?”

“I don’t want anything! I just want the stories that Mister Link tells!” The third child exclaimed, shooting a glare at the second.

“Children!” A motherly looking woman came up to the group and started to usher the three children away from Link’s feet. “I’m so sorry Master Link, they’re just excited that you’ve come to visit. It’s not that often that you do.” The woman looked bashful.

Link instantly waved the woman’s concerns away with a wave of his hand. _“Don’t worry Rola,_” Link finger-spelt out the woman’s name. _“I don’t blame the children for being excited._”

The woman - Rola, Link called her - gave the other a thankful smile. “What are you doing here in Kakariko Village anyway Master Link?”

“_Here to see Impa, I said I’d help this group of people find whoever they’re looking for._”

“I won’t keep you then!” Rola looked at the others before speaking to them. “I hope you find whoever you’re looking for.” With those final words, Rola and the children left them in the entrance of the village.

“You seem quite a popular person here Link,” Warrior said as Link lead them through the village as Link waved to the people who called out his name.

Link hummed. “_I’m no one special. The children just like my stories and their parents appreciate that I keep them busy and out from under their feet._”

“What kind of stories do you tell?” Wind piped up, catching up to Link, who was the head of the group.

“_Just of my adventures, like I said, nothing special._”

“M-Master Link!” A girl squeaked as they walked up the stairs of a grand looking house. “What- What are you doing here?”

“_Hello Paya, I’m here to see Impa._” Link signed but instead of finger-spelling out the girls name, Link had hid his face behind his hands. The girl - Paya, Time learned - seemed to understand what Link had meant.

“Grand, Grandmother? W-Why do you need to see her? N-Not that she’d be excited, excited to see you Master Link!” Paya quickly added on, her face turned red.

“_Peace Paya. I found these eight in the middle of the Plains, claiming that they needed help to find someone and Impa seemed like the best person to go to._”

Paya nodded quickly as she turned to the door, raising a hand to the group, signalling for them to wait. “G-Grandmother? Master Link is here to see you.”

“Link is here for a visit? I doubt that’s true, that lad never visits unless he needs something!” A voice called from within the house and Link winced that the woman’s voice. “Bah, let the lad come in. It’s probably important if he needs something.”

Paya came back out with a smile. “I-I know that you probably, probably heard what Grand, Grandmother said but you’re welcome to come inside.”

Link gave Paya a nod as a thank you before waving the others into the house.

“Ah Link! It seems you’ve finally came to visit me and I see you brought some friends with you!” An old woman sat in front of them, Impa, Time could only assume.

“_These eight need help finding-_” Link started to signed before Impa raised her hand up, effectively stopping Link from signing.

“No need to sign Link and take off your hood why don’t you! You’re inside for Goddess sake!”

Link’s hands hung in the air before he cleared his throat. “Sorry Impa, it’s a habit.” Link’s voice was rough to say the least but what Time was more focused on was how long the other’s hair was and the ugly looking scar that took up half of Link’s face. “They need your help,”

“I can tell, they all look trouble.” Impa looked towards her granddaughter. “Paya why don’t you get the ten of us some tea? Lemon grass should do.”

Jumping up, Paya quickly scampered off to the kitchen.

As soon as Paya was gone and out of earshot, Impa spoke up again. “Now what can I do for you eight heroes from different lands?”

The eight of them blanched while Link looked confused at her words. “How did you know?” Time asked.

“I’ve been alive for hundreds of years, I’m the elder of this village and the Goddess tells me things that prove to be important. Now what can I do for you?”

Time cleared his throat, still slightly shocked at how this old lady knew they weren’t from this Hyrule. “We’re looking for the hero of this land.”

Impa let out a knowing hum, watching Link dash out of the main room to go help Paya with the tea. “It just so appears that you’ve found them.”

“Found them? We’ve only met Link!” Legend exclaimed, trying to see the logic behind how they’ve already met the hero considering Link was the only person they saw on their way to Kakariko village.

“Exactly, it appears that the hero you were looking for just happened to be the one who led you to me.”

“Link doesn’t look like a hero though!” Four butts into the conversation, popping his head from behind Warriors were he was standing.

Impa gave one of the shorter of the eight a glare. “You eight don’t look like heroes either and yet here we are.”

Now slightly embarrassed about being cowed by the elder, Four ducked back behind Warriors, mumbling an apology.

“What are you talking about Impa?” Link walked back into the main room, helping Paya with the plate of tea.

“It appears that your adventure isn’t over yet Link, it seems you have one more adventure.”

“Another adventure?” Link looked a little hesitant. “What is it even for.”

Impa only gave Link a grin. “Well Champion, that’s for your companions to decide.” Impa waved her arm at the eight who were still standing there in shock although Wind looked excited at the thought of Link staying in their little group for a longer period of time.

“Link! That means we have to find you a nickname if you’re going to be staying with us for longer!” Wind ran up to the hero of this Hyrule and tugged on his arm. “You are going to be staying with us, right?”

Link looked at Impa for a moment before looking back at the youngest and nodding.

“Great! Now that means I can tell about _my_ adventures!”

“I’m excited to hear about them,” Link turned to Time. “Where are we going anyway?”

“We don’t know. We were hoping that finding, well, you, would tell us what we’re doing here and in general.” Time answered Link’s question. “Is there any unfinished business you need to get done?”

Link shook his head. “I have everything I need right here.” Link patted something that was strapped to his belt. “If there isn’t set place you need to go, the four kingdoms might help us with you quest.”

“The four kingdoms? Shouldn’t there usually be five?” Warriors asked, thinking back to the shadow of what seemed to be a grand castle they saw when they had first arrived.

Link was silent for a moment, his eyes darting around the room his eyes looking everywhere but the people in front of him as his fingers danced around the lip of the teacup Paya had handed him. “Yea the four kingdoms, the Zora, Goron, Rito, and Gerudo. Of course there's the Shekiah and Hylians but they’re more spread out in the Great Plateau.”

“Which one is the closest? Seeing as it took two days to get here these kingdoms are probably farther away than a few days walk.” Hyrule asked, seeming to be over the shock of finding out that Link was the hero.

“The Zora, even then it’s far from here.” Link said bluntly before adding more information. “Usually by myself I can make it in four days but with a group as big as this? I’d have to say a week, maybe even a little bit more depending on how fast and how far we make it in one day.”

There was a range of different replies to the information they just learned. “Goddess, how did you make it in four days why is it going to take us a week!” Legend asked, “You must of had speed potions or something to make you faster!”

Link shook his head at Legend’s mention of using speed potions. “I just kept moving, even through the night.”

Wind gaped his mouth at Link. “For _four_ days? You ran for four days straight without a break?”

“I took the occasional break. More or less just to fight the boko goblin camps that I came across.”

“Is that why us all together will take us a week?” Twilight spoke up for the first time since they entered the house.

Link nodded, “I doubt the eight of you can go a week without any sleep. Plus, it’s dangerous if the eight of you are all sleep deprived because you pushed yourself too much only because you wanted to make it to a kingdom that will still be there forever.”

“Then why did you do it?” Time asked, curious on why Link was adamant for their own well being except his own.

“It’s dangerous to let your guard down when you’re by yourself. Especially when Ganon was still in control of the monsters.”

“What about now?” Legend asked, “Is it still dangerous? Even though Ganon is hopefully gone?”

“It’s still very dangerous. If not for the monsters than for all the wild animals and everything natural.” Link bluntly said as he grabbed his cloak that was hung up on the pegs near the door, preparing to leave on his next adventure. 


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day out in the wild and things don't go good for our resident wild child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long :^( that one fight scene (if you could even count it as one) really gave me a hard time and the ending was kinda weak ngl :^( but i hope yall enjoy!

“So, you’re the hero of this Hyrule.” Legend said as they left Kakariko village in the horizon and entered the wild.

Link turned his head to the right, looking over his shoulder at the hero. “That’s what everyone calls me, some sort of procephy I believe, I never really understood the procephy except for the fact that I was supposed to fulfill it and remove Ganon from power so that Hyrule could return to peace and Princess Zelda could return.”

“Did Ganon give you that scar? It’s pretty nasty looking.” Hyrule asked, his eyes trailing over Link’s scarred cheek and as far as the cloak still draped over his shoulders would let Hyrule look down his neck.

Link looked around, his hand coming up to his cheek as if he was worried about how people saw him or if they only saw his scar. “No, I had this long before Ganon was even a physical thing and more of a bedtime story you’d tell to kids who wandered out late.”

“Goddess, even before Ganon was a thing bad things were happening?” Hyrule exclaimed, seeming to be ignoring the slight embarrassment and hesitance that Link had in his words when talking about his scar.

“It was no ones fault except Ganon’s.” Link turned his head towards the horizon towards the mountains. “There’s not much you can do about it now. It’s in the past,”

“How are you still alive?” Time asked, horrified how someone this young could survive something that would leave a scar that big. He was by no means making fun of the other for having a scar, everyone in the group had a scar, some more noticeable than others.

Link didn’t say anything for a moment as he turned to Time, his eyes hard and his expression cold.

Even if Link hadn’t said anything, Time was able to understand what Link was conveying with his facial expression. Leave it alone.

“Hey Link! What’s that?” Wind pointed to a large animal across the field. The youngest seemed to be oblivious to the tension that Link now had after Time asked his question.

Link already had his sword out and grasped tightly in his grip before he took a look at where Wind was pointing. “Oh, it’s just a bear. It won’t attack unless we get too close or if it has cubs.”

“What’s a bear? Where I’m from we only had pigs,” Wind asked, still enraptured with the creature.

Link’s eyes were sparkling with mirth from what Time could see. “Do you want a closer look?”

Wind’s eyes also started to sparkle with excitement with the thought of getting closer to the new creature but that plan was quickly shut down by Twilight who seemed hesitant for the youngest who often found themselves in trouble. “Is that really the best idea? Link did just say that if one gets close to it the bear will attack.”

“Not if you climb a tree.” Link stated, already walking through the bushes towards the bear with Wind closely following him on his heels.

“They’re quite a pair.” Time said, crossing his arms as he stood next to Twilight who looked at where the two running off to.

“Is this how you feel with everyone in the group? We’re not as chaotic as those two.”

Time clapped his mentee on the shoulder who shot him a glare. “Soon enough you’ll be the one taking care of those two, not me.”

“You wish old man,”

There were a few moments of silence fell comfortably through the group before Wind came back with leaves and twigs in his blond hair as he ran out of the brush. He seemed to be out of breath and worried for some reason.

“Back already Wind? I would have thought you would look at the bear with Link a little while longer.” Twilight turned his head to look at the youngest who had just burst into the clearing. “Where is Link anyway? And why are you so out of breath?”

“Monsters,” Wind gasped, his hands on his knees as he tried to get his breath back. “Link’s already fighting them but there’s a whole bunch of them.”

Time’s hand grasped the handle of his sword tightly. They’ve been in this world for a couple of days and they were already being ambushed. At least it was better than being ambushed when they immediately arrived.

“Lead the way.”

Wind nodded, his face looking much more serious than it usually did. It was odd to see Wind like that after spending time with the happy go lucky child but even behind the seriousness, Time could see the worriedness behind it all.

By the time the group had made it to Link, there were already a few items where one could only assume where previous monsters were. Although they had just arrived, there were less monsters than Wind had described, and Link still looked to be fine if not a little over exerted.

“Link! We’ve come to help!” Wind raised his sword and Link whipped his head around to look at the group, his long blond hair that fell out of the pony tail in the heat of the moment whipping against his face and getting in the way of his eyes.

Now Time wasn’t a trained knight but he knew that on the battlefield that if you got distracted for even one moment, your enemy would take advantage of that.

And horrifyingly enough, the goblin did take advantage of Link’s moment of distraction.

Time seemed to go slow as Time watched Link get hit with the goblin club to the side. He could of sworn that he heard the others behind him let out a gasp. The eight of them were used to violence, some less fortunate of them had seen Hylains and some of them personally saw their own Zelda get captured but this, seeing Link, who was someone a few of them (mainly Wind) was close get hurt was hard for Time to swallow.

Thankfully Link didn’t stay on the ground for long but as he got up, he swayed back and forth dangerously as he gripped the heavy looking sword in his hands until his knuckles turned white. Hair that escaped the loose ponytail was sticking to Link’s temples that were doused in sweat.

Twilight didn’t waste another moment to run over to support the ninth member of their group before he collapsed to his knees in the middle of the goblins who wanted the Hylian dead. “Time, we need to get him out of here now, I can’t tell how bad his wounds are with everything going on.”

“Take Wind and Legend back to the clearing and try to give him some healing potions.” Time drew out his sword as Twilight threw Link’s arm over his shoulder to help him walk away.

“I can walk by myself.” Link said as he panted, trying to catch his breath as he used his sword still gripped tightly as a crutch. “I can still fight, it’s not that hard.”

“You’re not fighting in the condition you’re in right now cub.” The small nickname went unnoticed by the injured hero. “Wind get over here, I’m going to need you to watch over Link so he doesn’t run back here.”

Link picked up his head, his skin tone pale but his cheeks were flushed pink. “Is Wind hurt? Is that why he’s coming with?”

“He’s just coming along to make sure you won’t sneak away while you’re supposed to be resting.”

LInk grumbled for a bit as his chin dropped down to his chest and he went quiet as Twilight dragged him along with Wind following along a few paces away and the others killing the last few goblin stragglers.

* * *

Wind watched as Twilight rested Link against a tree, if he strained his ears, he could still hear sword against the monsters clubs and the occasional monster scream. But Wind wasn’t concerned about what was going on there, or well he was worried about how the others were doing but he was mostly worried about how Link was doing.

Seeing his friend get hit with the club (he swore that he heard Link’s ribs break or at least crack to some degree. Not that he wanted to think about it). “Is he going to be okay Twi?”

Twilight looked over at him even if Wind was looking at Link who seemed to be glaring at Twilight, having an obvious grudge against the other for taking him out of battle soon.

“He’ll be fine kid. He just needs to take this goddess damned potion.”

“I don’t need it.” Link grumbled, his face less pale now that he was resting without the threat of being struck down by the monster.

“Take the potion Link.” Twilight thrusted the bottle with the pink liquid under Link’s lips. “You can’t lead us around your Hyrule if you’re injured.”

Link grumbled again but took the potion into his hand, giving Twilight a half hearted glare who wasn’t even paying attention to it.

“Get some rest you two. The others shouldn’t be long but Time will probably give us a couple of hours to recoup and rest, especially after Link got hurt.”

Link grumbled again but let his body relaxed slightly as he lifted up his hood of his cloak, pulling it over his eyes.

Although Wind knew that Link would be safe with Twilight staying close by, he still stayed firmly planted by Link’s side. “It’s all my fault isn’t?”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, as he was putting the empty bottle back into his bag, it was always good to keep bottles considering they could always be refilled with more potions.

“I distracted him. I got him hurt.” Wind said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“It’s not the first time I got hurt kid and I can promise you that it won’t be the last.” Link said from where he laid on the ground, making Wind, who was not expecting Link to be up, jump slightly.

“You’re supposed to be resting.” Twilight didn’t even look up from where he was sitting across the clearing.

“I am resting,” Link replied shortly. “I’m not out there fighting with the others.”   
  
Because Twilight didn’t reply (Wind did notice that the eldest did roll his eyes), Wind took it as the opportunity to apologize now that he knew that Link was awake. “I’m so sorry I got you hurt!”

“Kid, I’m completely fine. Twilight forced me to drink a potion.” Link said with no anger over the fact that he had gotten injured not even a few minutes ago.

“Yea but-” Wind started, his brows furrowing as he started to think about how Twilight and Link were starting to make some sort of sense. “Ugh, I guess you’re right but you owe me because I want to see a bear still!”

Link rolled his eyes but agreed anyway. 


	5. Chapter five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the group sees how good of a cook link is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slightly longer than my other chapters but im really happy how this one turned out! :^)

They stayed in the clearing a little while longer as Link has his eyes closed but his hand holding the hilt of his sword in a tight grip. It was obvious to the others in the group that he wasn’t actually sleeping. 

“Is Link going to be okay pup?” Time asked as he sat down next to his mentee. “He took a pretty powerful hit earlier today.”

Twilight looked over to the injured person who was thankfully still resting against the tree trunk. “He’s- he’s doing okay, gave him a healing potion a few minutes before you arrived.” Silence fell between the two before Twilight spoke up again, his voice quieter. “It really scared Wind to see Link get hurt that bad. Wind might be the hero of his world but I doubt that he’s actually seen someone so mortally injured.” 

“It scared all of us.” Time said in a matter-of-factly tone of voice. “I doubt that any of us were prepared to see how deadly Link’s world is. But Goddess, Wind is our youngest here, I can see why he would be scared.” 

Twilight hummed and that seemed to be the end of that conversation. 

Silence fell between the two as they watched the other six mill around the clearing as they took inventory of their supplies and a few of the eldest were fretting over Wind who was sticking close to Link who was in fact not where he was the last time Twilight looked over at the tree. 

“So,” Link said as he took a seat next to Twilight, startling the eldest of the group with how silent he was with sneaking up on them. “When are we leaving? We’ve stayed here too long and at least a few miles will be good enough for today.” 

Twilight looked over at Link with a raised eyebrow. “You’re supposed to be resting right now.” 

“I’ve rested long enough, I don’t know why you’re worried about that, you gave me a potion. I’m completely healed.” 

“You cracked some of your ribs-!” Twilight started to say, his voice slightly louder and it was bound to end in a lecture if Time didn’t lay a hand on his shoulder. 

“Link’s right Twi. I know that you want to let him rest but we have lost a few hours of daylight and even if we only make it a couple hours more, that’ll be good enough.” Time reasoned with Twilight who eventually nodded, reluctantly agreeing to keep moving. “I’ll go tell the others, you two should get your stuff together as well.” 

The two nodded as Time stood up to tell the others. 

* * *

The group fell into the self appointed groups that were filled with their own quiet chatter with Time in the front leading the group (even if he didn’t know that land that well) and with Link and Wind in the back chattering about future promises of seeing a bear. Twilight himself was in a dilemma, he wanted to check in to see how Link was fairing despite the multiple answers about how he was actually fine and with Wind sticking close. 

“We’ll stop here tonight,” Time stopped suddenly in front of a patch of trees. “It’s no use of walking anymore if the sun is going down behind the mountains in a matter of minutes.”

No one argued with Time’s words as they set up camp against the trees just a few steps away from the beaten down dirt path they had been following. “Legend could you start a fire?”

“What are we eating tonight?” Wind asked, sitting on his bedroll that he had quickly rolled out as he watched Legend set up the dry sticks from around the trees into a teepee formation and then blow some life into the fire after making some sparks. 

“Probably whatever rations we have left.” Warrior grumbled as he threw acorns at Legend’s head as he tried to get the fire started. “Hardtack seems to be the only think we are eating.” 

Wind threw his head back, letting it hit the tree trunk as he groaned. “I don’t like hardtack though! It’s so bland!”

Link’s head shot up, his eyebrows disappearing into his hairline as he watched the interaction between the two. “Hardtack? What’s that?” 

Warriors gaped at Link, his jaw metaphorically hitting the ground. “You’ve never had hardtack? You’ve traveled all around Hyrule and you’ve never had hardtack?” 

“No?” Link looked up at Warriors, his eyebrows coming back down and furrowing. “Am I missing something important?”

“It’s something you eat when you can’t stop for the night or have no supplies to cook!” Wind piped up, filling Link in who made a face of understanding. “What do you eat on the road if you don’t eat hardtack?”

“If I don’t stop for the night usually whatever I find on the ground so usually apples and mushrooms but if I’m at an inn or need food with a high number of hearts, I’ll cook.” 

Wind gaped at Link, “You cook?! Can you cook for us tonight? I don’t want to eat hardtack again!” Wind turned to Time, who was sitting across the now roaring fire, bringing welcome heat to the clearing. “Can Link cook tonight Time? Please?”

Time looked over at Wind’s hopeful look. “I don’t see why not. Link, you’ll have to find your own food considering we don’t actually have the supplies to make a full meal.” 

Wind cheered as Link stood up, grabbing his bow that was strapped to his back. “What are you going to make Link?” 

“Probably just a basic meat curry,” Link looked down at Wind who was following right on his heels. “Do you want to come to help?”

Wind let out a cheer as he jumped into the air. “Time! I’m going to go help Link get food for tonight!” 

Time looked up to see Wind with a big, excited smile on his face and Link’s passive face but Time could see the slight quirk of his lips and the small twinkle in his eyes. “Go ahead, just be careful you two.” The two started to walk away when Time waved his hand. “Don’t walk to far away you two!”

“Okay dad!” Wind called over his shoulder, laughing as he disappeared into the brush. 

Now on the dirt path, Link looked down at the smaller with confusion plainly coloured on his face. “Do you always call Time dad?” Link hesitated on the last word, his mouth opening and closing slightly as if he was trying to sound out the word to himself, trying to familiarize the word to his tongue. 

“Nah, not always.” Wind skipped again, often stopping to look at a bug resting on a blade of tall grass. “A lot of us say it jokingly. He worries a lot like a dad. Although Twilight worries too much too, Twi kinda worries like a mom but I don’t think any of us has called him mom.” 

“Ah,” Link said simply as he looked off onto the plains and quickly ducked down, pulling Wind along with him. “Do you see that elk?” Link pointed to an elk a few paces away as he pulled out his bow, notching it with an arrow. 

“What are you doing?” Wind asked curiously as he watched Link aim the arrow at the elk’s head. 

“Getting our dinner,” Link said shortly, his eyes never leaving the elk who was peacefully grazing. Link let the arrow go flying and from what Wind could hear, the arrow made the mark. “Did you think I could just pull meat out of thin air?”

Wind stood up as Link did, scratching the back of his head. “Well yea,”

Link let out an uncharacteristic snort of laughter that gave Wind quite a shock. “I can’t necessarily pull food out of thin air but if I already have it in my inventory,” Link patted the rectangle on his hip. “I can pull it out. I although quite recently ran out of meat.” 

“What else do you need?” Wind asked as he danced around Link as he picked up the meat from the fallen elk. 

Link stood up at pointed to a small body of water a few paces away from where they were. “Could you get two handfulls of that rice from there? It looks like tall grass but a little bit yellow,”

“Sure thing!” Wind saluted as he dashed off to the pond to grab what was needed. 

Finding what Link needed was a little bit harder than he expected with all the other tall grass surrounding it but eventually Wind had found the rice and quickly ran back to Link, who was still standing where Wind had left him. “I got it Link!” Wind cheered as he handed the rice off to Link’s arms that was also holding the raw meat. “Do you need anything else?” 

Link shook his head as he started to walk back to camp. “I only need spices but I already have those in my inventory. Are the others going to complain about something being too spicy?”

“I personally won’t!” Wind said proudly, “I like spicy food but a few of them might be caught off guard.” 

Link let out another snort of laughter as he rolled his eyes. “That’s the joy of food, let it catch you off guard sometimes.” 

The closer they got to the camp for the night, the more excited that they were going to be eating a home-cooked meal (or well it wasn’t really a home cooked meal, more of a on the road cooked meal), but this was his first meal that wasn’t hardtack since his grandma cooked dinner!

“We’re back everyone!” Wind called out to the seven heroes milling around the clearing. “And Link is cooking us a meal fit for a king tonight!”

“Glad to see that you two didn’t do anything stupid.” Twilight said sarcastically as Link sat down near the fire. 

“Hold these please,” Link asked as he handed off the rice and raw meat in Twilight’s arms as he pulled off the rectangle off of his hip and started to swipe through it, seeming to pull out a wok and a wooden spoon out of nowhere. 

“What are you making?” Four asked, watching in awe as Link put the meat and rice into the wok. 

“Just a basic meat curry. I would make something a little more filling for everyone but because this is on such short notice and I didn’t really have the supplies to make something so grand.” Link said plainly as he stirred up the cooking rice and flipped the slowly browning meat. 

“How did you learn how to cook?” Legend asked, daring to stick his fingers into the wok but was quickly hit with Link’s wooden spoon. 

“I- I don’t know,” Link said blandly as he put on some sort of spice over the meat. “I just seemed to know how to cook some things. Of course like most things I had to learn recipes.” 

“What was your first thing you learned to cook?” Warriors asked, curious about learning more things about the new hero. 

Link brought out some bowls from his magical rectangle and started to serve up everyone a serving of meat curry. “I don’t remember the first recipe that I ever got correctly but one that I just knew was baked apples.Just throw some apples in the wok and let it bake, a staple food for the early days of my cooking.” 

Wind was the first one to dig into the still steaming food, his cheeks bulging with how much he took in the first bite. “Link this is delicious!” 

Link’s face turned a light shade of pink at the praise, obviously not used to receiving compliments. “Uh, thank you.” 

“I call Link cooking forever now if it means if we get to eat like this every night!” Wind exclaimed, swallowing his bite of food. No one disagreed with the claim and Link’s face only turned a brighter shade of red. 


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The nine heroes finally made it to the Zora Domain and towards the end, Link gets his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall i am so sorry this took so long to get out :^(((((( this chapter was a big struggle for me to write, not because i didn't know what to do but because i just couldnt find the motivation to write!!! but i really hope that this slightly longer than usual chapter will make up for it uwu
> 
> also!!!! the relationship between sidon and wild could been seen as a romantic or just very close friendship. if enough people interpret it as a romantic relationship or want me to tag it, i can!!!!!!

Compared to the other’s Zora’s domain, Link’s was completely different. Of course it was still heavily based around the water but instead of being completely submerged in it, the city had multiple rivers running through it and it was on top of a mountain with beaten down paths leading up to the front gate. All in all it was a very serene place.

The only complaint that Time had was the fact that the Zora were so _tall_. Of course the King Zora himself was a very tall creature but it seemed that every Zora was tall. 

“My champion!” A cheerful male voice rang out as the nine of them were standing just outside the front gate. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you!”

Link’s face broke out into a wide grin as he turned around as he raised his hands that were already moving rapidly. In fact, Link’s hand was moving so rapidly that Twilight seemed not to be able to follow along but the red Zora, who was now standing at the gate (and in fact _very_ tall), seemed to understand the rapid signing. 

“Who is this Link?” Wind asked as he fell into step next to Link who looked down on the younger with the largest smile they’ve all seen since they’ve arrived here. 

Link turned to Wind, clearing his throat before speaking. “Ah, this is my friend Sidon.” 

The red Zora’s face broke into a very sharp tooth grin that somehow seemed to be friendly. “Ah my Champion, it seems that you’ve found your voice!” The red Zora - Sidon, Time reminded himself - said lightly as Link flustered. “Prince Sidon, at your service!” Sidon performed a deep bow in front of the group, making Link roll his eyes. 

Wind tugged on Link’s hand sharply, bringing the taller down to the smallers’ level where Wind, not so quietly, whispered in his ear. “That’s a _prince_!”

“You’ve probably met princes before Wind, how is he any different?” Link said back at the same level of voice. 

“Because he’s taller than all the others one I’ve met.” Wind said softly, still watching the Zora prince with wide eyes. “All the princes that I’ve met have been my height.”

Prince Sidon let out a booming laugh, his head thrown back to the sky. “A tall prince I may be little one but I am mainly just Link’s friend. Are you here to see my father?”

Link shook his head. “I have no desire in dealing with royalty today Sidon, no offense of course. But I’m showing the group around Hyrule and I’m hoping that you’ll so graciously allow us to stay a day or two.”

Sidon brightened up before bending down to Link’s height, clasping Link’s much smaller hands in his own. “Truly? You’ll be staying a couple days?”

Link nodded and somehow Sidon’s smile got even brighter. “Would you like one of the suites?”

Link looked a little uncomfortable at the thought of staying in the suites. It didn’t seem like he had any problem with royalty so perhaps it was the fact of being enclosed. “Would you be offended if we stayed in one of the rooms near the river near the dock?”

Sidon leaned down next to Link’s ear which was quite comical considering the height difference between the two of them. When Sidon pulled away, Link’s brows were downturned as he bit his thumb nail. 

“Don’t worry,” Link patted Sidon on the wrist. “I’ll take care of it before I leave.”

“Truly? You will? Oh Champion, I hate to ask you to do this yet again but I am _so_ thankful that you will take care of our problem yet again!” Sidon flashed his blinding smile again as he started to walk through the gate, waving the group with him. “Come! Come! I expect that you would like to rest after long days of travel!” 

Wind was the first one to follow Sidon, his eyes wide with awe as he fell into step with the price. 

Stuck with the option of staying outdoors on the front gate of the domain or actually have a roof over their heads for a couple of days. Of course, with how tired they were sleeping on rocks and dirt, they took the latter option. 

As they walked through the main courtyard (Or at least Time considered in the main courtyard considering how many people were milling around), Link fell behind the group even though he was next to Sidon for the majority of the walk, laughing quietly at the questions Wind was asking the prince. 

It didn’t take long before Sidon had noticed that they were missing one hero from the group. “Would you mind waiting here for one moment?” He asked politely, already stepping around everyone to head back to the courtyard. “It shall not take me long.”

“Of course,” Time answered to Sidon’s already retreating form. Following Sidon was quite easy with the vantage point that they had, as Time watched the prince weave through the people and children weaving between his legs in the courtyard and ultimately stop next to Link who was standing in front of a statue of a lavish looking Zora. 

Neither of them didn’t seem to say anything for the time being while Sidon settled down next to Link, sitting cross-legged while Link stayed standing. Another beat went by when Sidon turned to Link, his face coloured with understanding and thinly veiled sadness. 

The two of them sat in what seemed to be silence for a little while longer before Link’s tense shoulders lowered and Link nodded. 

The two began to walk back but in the middle of the courtyard, Link turned back to look at the statue once before Sidon gently nudged him back onto the path so that Sidon could show the group their rooms. 

“What do you think that was about?” Warriors asked to no one in particular. 

Time turned around, not wanting for the fragile trust between Link and the group to shatter because they were so nosy. “Leave it alone War, if Link wants to tell us he’ll tell us on his own time. We can’t force anything out of him.”

Twilight watched with worry clear on his face as the duo made their way back up to the front . who were back to cheerfully talking together and answering whatever questions Wind had for them. It was as if the scene in the courtyard didn’t even happen. 

* * *

“Will you be okay my Champion?” Sidon asked as he slowly swam in the lake right outside of the little hut the group was staying in. 

Although, one to enjoy a nice swim, Link decided to sit out on the dock and watch the Zora swim. “I’ll- I’ll be okay. I’m sorry that I worried you.” 

Sidon swam closer, his eyes wide. His clawed hands gripping the dock as he looked Link in the eyes. Even though Sidon was in the water and Link was somewhat elevated, the prince still managed to be a hair taller. “Oh Link! You didn’t worry me, everyone deals with mourning in different ways.

“I’m the champion of Hyrule, you’ve said it yourself multiple times. I feel like I _shouldn’t_ mourn.” 

At this point of the conversation, Sidon had now placed his hand over Link’s knee. “I have no clue who would have put those thoughts into your head but I can say for certain that they are wrong.”

Link opened his mouth to say something when Wind came barreling out of the door. “Link! Are you cooking tonight?”

“It sounds like I’m the guide _and_ the group cook,” Link joked slightly as he turned his head to look at Wind. “If the others are hungry I will!”

Wind gave him the quick thumbs-up before dipping back into the small house. 

“That boy is a lot of energy,” Sidon observed with an easy smile painted across his face. “I can see why you’re close to him.” 

“He reminds me of you when you were younger,” 

Sidon let out an offended noise but laughed easily. “I suppose you find friends who are easygoing to level your loneliness.” 

Link gave Sidon an uncharacteristic smile as he began to stand up, removing his feet from the cold water and rolling down the legs of his pants. “I better go and cook them something. I hate for them to burn down the house.” 

“Link?” Sidon called after him, still sitting in the water with his hands still gripping the dock. “Stay safe when you go up there tonight, you know that I can not follow.” 

Link turned around and gave his friend a nod. “I can not promise but I can at least try.”

“That’s all I can ask for my champion.”

* * *

It was raining which was usual every time Link had fought this Lynel. With a great and mighty final roar, the Lynel fell down, leaving it’s usual drops. 

And Link fell down too, his vision going dark. 

“_It was my pleasure._” A blue translucent Zora lightly touched Link’s forehead and quickly disappeared when Link opened his eyes. 

* * *

It wasn’t raining when Link stumbled back down the mountain and back into the hut. 

Goddess, he was exhausted when he finally collapsed down by the door, itching at his arms where he had been hit by the Lynel’s lightning multiple times. Mipha’s Grace might have been able to save his life from certain death, but she wasn’t able to heal all his hurts. 

“Where were you?” Came Twilight’s quiet voice from the darkness on the other side of the hut.

“Finishing old business,” Link said plainly. He knew the very basics of having good relationships in a group and keeping secrets from one another was for sure not on that list. Not that Link would ever tell the group what went down on the top of the mountain, he has already worried them enough recently. 

Twilight only hummed at Link’s excuse, thankfully not questioning it. “Get some rest, Sky has something to tell everyone and especially you.” 

Link took a look at the dying embers as he nodded, settling down to be a little more comfortable next to the door. 

* * *

Per usual, Link woke up as soon as the sun started to rise even if he couldn’t exactly _see_ it, his internal clock woke him up. 

Without wanting to wake anyone up as he made a simple baked fish for breakfast, Link went outside to build a small fire, only big enough to bake the fish. 

He wasn’t outside for long when Wind came barreling out of the hut, his face splitting into a wide smile when his eyes set on Link. “There you are Link! Time is calling a group meeting, he says it’s super important that everyone is present for it!” 

“I’m coming,” Link waved behind him as he stood up, putting out the fire that he allowed to die out with a bucket of water retrieved from the lake. “Does anyone know what this is about? Twilight had told me that Sky needed to tell me something.” 

“Nope!” Wind said cheerfully, “This isn’t out of the ordinary so I might know what’s going on!” 

Link hummed as he entered into the hut and took the same spot near the door where he had fallen asleep the previous night. 

“Fi finally spoke to me last night,” Sky spoke up instantly, his eyes finding Link’s. “It was quite, jumbled as if she was in a rush but I understood the basics of it. She kept showing me you Link and repeating ‘_The Hero of the Wild_’ over and over again.” Link was silent, scratching at his right hand slightly as he took in this information. “Is it alright if we called you Wild? It lowers the confusion in calling you Link.” 

All eyes turned to Link or well, turned to _Wild_. It wasn’t a bad name per say, it would just take a while to get used to after spending so long with hearing himself being called Link or the Champion. But nonetheless, Wild nodded anyway, he could get used to the name. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope everyone has a very merry christmas but if you dont celebrate it i hope that you had a good holiday for whatever you celebrate and enjoy your day off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yall deserve it uwuw


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the Zora domain and a meeting with the king

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sjjddjjdjd y'all I am so sorry that this took forever to get out but I do have a reason! My computer recently died on me (rip) so I am left writing on my phone (not that used to it so sorry for any glaring mistakes that I did not catch 😔) so I had to start all over with this chapter 😔
> 
> Anyway, head cabin time!!!! I personally head cabin that after Wild 'dies' he kinda just,,, loses the will to speak?? If that makes any sense so he will be signing a lot this chapter

It was midday when Sidon made his way up the mountain, the entire domain was bustling with excitement. Almost everywhere the prince went he heard the excited whispers of the champion's good deeds.

Said champion was sitting on the deck, almost the exact same position as where Sidon had last seen him. Only this time Link was talking to one of the smallest of the group who was happily paddling in the water.

Odd, the Link that Sidon knew always jumped at the opportunity to be in the water in the domain. But at the same time, Sidon knew of the anxiety that Link had when it came to groups but as these. To be honest, Sidon was amazed how quickly Link had warmed up to the group despite not knowing them for long. 

"Link!" Sidon exclaimed, bounding up the path. "I can't thank you enough for helping us with our problem!"

Link patted the dock next to him, a sign of his smaller friend wanting for him to sit down besides him. "_It was nothing my friend, I'm glad that I could help. How did you know that I had done the job?_"

"I may or may not of told Bazz about what you were going to do and you know how quickly gossip spreads around here. It appears that some of the younger knights had caught wind of it and stayed up all night to see if you were okay."

Link nodded and looked up at Broke back mountain. He could only hope that it stayed peaceful now.

"Wild what are you two walking about?" One of the smallest and the youngest (or Sidon assumed that he was the youngest) swam up to the dock. 

"_It's adult things, nothing you need to worry about_." Link signed, waving off the boy's question.

The smallest grumbled, giving Link a pout. "It can't be adult things because you're not _that_ old!" 

"'Wild'?" Sidon asked, still very much confused on the new name.

"_A nickname of sorts, makes it easier to know who is who when everyone has the same name._" Link easily signed and then turned to the smallest.

Sidon nodded, his friend did make sense although he wasn't aware that they all had the same name but because they all had long blonde hair (some longer than others) and dressed similar, it made sense to have nicknames. "It suits you my friend." 

Link gave Sidon a wane smile, the tips of his ears becoming red - an obvious sign that he was becoming flustered. "_So what brings you up here? Did you only want to thank me?_"

Now it was Sidon's turn to become flustered. "Well, you know how fast news travels around here so uh, my father heard about it and would like to thank you personally."

"_Isn't you thanking me enough?_" Link asked, his hands moving slowly and his eyes looking everywhere but the Prince who was sitting next to him. Goddess, even though he worked closely with royalty in almost all years of his life, Link could confidently say that he did not enjoy all the court meetings he had to sit through. 

"I'm afraid so my friend, once my father made up his mind you know that he will not change it so easily." 

Link let out a long sighed as he squared his shoulders, his face becoming a stone. "_I suppose that means that I'll have to go get changed, give me a moment."_ Link signed as he got up, patting Sidon's much broader shoulder as he made his way back to the hut. 

* * *

"Are you ready my friend?" Sidon asked, pulling Time's attention away from watching Legend and Warriors playfully fighting in the water. "I doubt that father will keep you long. Don't worry, I managed to talk him out of throwing you a feast."

Wild gave the prince a weak smile but the newest member of the group looked resigned as he twisted his fingers together but his face was like a stone. What shocked Time the most was the fact that Wild wasn't wearing his normal traveling clothes and cloak with his normal old but sharp broadsword strapped to his back but instead Wild was wearing armor that was obviously made by the Zora with all the fin like accents and with an ornate trident strapped to his back. Without his hood or hair in the way of his left side if his face, Time had never noticed how angry Wild's scar looked.

"Where are you two going?" Time asked.

"My father has requested to see Link. Now that I think about it, I doubt that he would dislike meeting you eight as well."

"What time do we leave?"

Sidon looked down to Wild who gave the prince a curt nod. "Now that Link is done getting ready right now would be nice. I rather not drag this out when you're supposed to be resting before you head back out in the wilderness."

The king looked much like the Zoran king from Time's own Hyrule. They both seemed bigger in size compared to the average Zora but if anything this king was far larger than the one back home. But everything seemed bigger in Wild's Hyrule.

Needless to say, the offhanded comment got the other eight moving quickly. 

* * *

"Champion! From my people and myself, I thank you for your bravery!" The King's - who's name Time learned was Dorephan - loud voice seemed even louder in the empty throne room. "We can truly not thank you enough for solving our little problem." King Dorephan said the last word as if it was a dirty secret that no one outside a tightly knit circle should know of.

Wild, who was still silent and with his hands clasped tightly behind his back, only nodded in response. 

"And it is nice that you have found people who you can confide in. I was worried that you would forever be alone, only stopping by our quiet domain once every so often." 

Sensing how uncomfortable Wild was with that comment, Time quickly jumped in. "Thank you for allowing us to stay here after long days of endless travel you Majesty. We would still be out in the wilderness if it wasn't for Wi- Link becoming our guide out if the kindness of his heart." 

With his little speech over, Time looked over at Wild who's shoulders lowered slightly before tending back up to almost touching his pointed ears. 

King Dorephan nodded with his eyes closed. "Ah yes, I do not doubt that Link wouldn't leave any wanderer to be lost in this great big home that many species call home. Thank you all for meeting with me today and thank you yet again for helping us Champion, I hope that this problem will never happen again." Wild nodded curtly again, keeping his eyes trained ahead, looking past the King's head. "You are dismissed."

Wild bowed deeply as he ushered the group out of the throne room with Sidon quick to follow after the Prince gave a few quick words to his father. Wild seemed to be glad that they were leaving the room. 

"I know you despise meetings like that my friend, I did not know that my father would drag out his words that long." Sidon seemed to be cowed as he bowed his head to Wild who only shook his head.

"_If I hated every meeting with royalty I've gone to, I would have not become a knight so close to the royalty of the Hylians_." Wild signed, removing his helmet, making his long blonde hair fall out like a waterfall with a few cowlicks getting in the way of perfectly straight hair. "_I'm just glad it's done and over. Hopefully we'll be on the road soon so I won't have to worry about being so stiff with royalty for a while."_

Sidon let out loud laughter that seemed to be warmer than the King's, perhaps it was because Sidon had some personal level with the heroes and especially the newest member.

"What do we do now?" Wind asked, piping up after being quiet for the entire meeting which was out if the ordinary for the smallest. "Are we going to be leaving soon?"

"_We can stay another day if you so wish, I'm sure that there are things that will keep you occupied._" Wild signed. That's what confused Time, they had finally broken (or started to break( the right shell that Wild kept around himself and Wild was speaking for a while but now he was completely silent as the day they met him. What had happened? "_You and I could always climb the big statue in the front if you're that bored._" Despite not knowing what Wild was saying, Wind seemed to understand the mischief that shined behind Wild's eyes.

"Absolutely not." Sidon and Twilight said at the same time making both heroes under the spotlight grumble slightly with their plans of finding their own fun extinguished. 

"If it's fine with you and your father, I would like to stay one more day to rest up and gather supplies." Time asked, it was still midday so if they couldn't stay another day, they would still have the time to get new supplies. 

"Of course you may stay one more day, you've only been here for such a short amount of time and I will be sad to see my friend go." Sidon looked down at Wild who rolled his in a light-hearted manner. "I won't say that I know the wanderlust that resides itself in your hearts but I won't force you to stay."

Time bowed slightly, "Thank you for your kindness."


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes leave the Zora Domain after a few calm days and two heroes grow closer by having childish fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me about two months to come out with a new chapter!!! I don't really have an excuse to why besides the fact that I am not teaching myself new things because if quarantine (that should mean that I should be coming up with more chapters 😔)
> 
> Anyway, next chapter will have angst (the next few chapters actually lmao) and finally Wolfie!!!!!
> 
> Also sorry this is so short and all over the place, head empty 😔

"Do you truly have to leave?" Sidon asked, his eyes watching Wild's every move as his friend carefully packed away health potions. "You can always stay another day if you want." 

Wild shook his head. "As much as I would love to, you know I can't, the others don't want to stay here for long." His voice was raspy from the lack of speaking in the past two days. 

Sidon looked dejected as he sat down next to his friend. "You're always welcome to return whenever you desire to." 

Wild nodded as he shouldered on the pack that he was given to hold a majority of things (did the others not know about his slate?) and patted Sidon on the arm as it was the only thing he could really reach, even if Wild was standing.

"Good luck on your travels my friend." Sidon said calmly, resting his much larger hand on Wild's smaller one. 

"Wild you ready to go?" Twilight called from the pathway. 

Wild looked over at his group and nodded, holding up one finger before turning back to Sidon. "On behalf from my group, I thank you for your hospitality." Wild was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "It was nice to see Mipha again, even if she is only a statue." 

Sidon was silent as well before speaking again. "She would be proud of you."

"Truly?" Wild asked, he knew that Sidon harboured no ill-will against him for what had happened during his one hundred year sleep. Yet something in the dark corners of his mind kept telling him that it was his fault. 

"Truly." Sidon reassured before slightly nudging Wild towards his group. "Now hurry along my Champion, you don't want everyone to be waiting for you." 

Wild gave his friend a quick nod, wishing him one final farewell with a promise of returning in the near future and he ran to catch up to his group. 

* * *

"Where are we going now?" Wind asked as they left the Domain. Despite the area surrounding the Domain was more or less safe with the minor threat of a goblin, the more experienced out of the group was on guard.

"Death Mountain most likely considering it's the closest to where we are." Wild said bluntly as he looked at the map on his slate. "Shouldn't take us that long, I estimate around a day or two." 

"Did you say  _ Death Mountain _ ?" Sky asked nervously when he heard of their next destination. "And  _ why _ is it called that?" 

Wild nearly shrugged as he kept on walking. "Don't remember the exact reason, but only the Gorons truly thrive in such a hot place which reminds me to make a lot of fireproof elixirs for you all if you have no ways of protecting yourself against the heat."

Sky looked worried between Wild and Time, it was obvious that the hero of the Sky wasn't that used to such extreme heats.

"Is there anything fun to do until we arrive?" Wind asked, either using his child-like cheer to break up the tense air that started to settle around the group or he was completely unaware on what he was doing. 

Wild only shook his head. "It's pretty much a plateau from here to the mountains, gotta make your own fun."

"So what did you do for fun?" Legend asked, butting into the conversation. "You don't seem like the type to stay on the path."

"Fight monsters?" Wild said hesitantly, his hand gripped tightly to his sword and his eyes shifting. "I liked to explore I guess, there's always something to find, even if you're not looking for something." 

"That's not fun!" Wind said. "That sounds boring and something like Old Man Time would do! Are you  _ positive _ that there's nothing fun to do?"

Wild fell behind a few steps, motioning for Wind do to the same. "Don't let Twilight or Time hear this but I went shield surfing as often as I could." 

"Shield surfing?" Wind parroted back in awe. "How do you do it?" 

Wild was about to speak but quickly closed his mouth when he saw Twilight look over his shoulder. "I'll show you how when we stop for a break. Don't tell anyone about this, can't have anyone finding out about this and yelling at us." 

* * *

"Wild! Can you show me now?" Wind ran up to Wild, his pack thrown against the ground quickly. 

Wild threw Wind a smirk as he nodded. "It'll be better to start you off with a smaller hill than immediately going to a steep one or multiple hills." 

"I can handle it!" Wind pouted but followed Wild anyways, the two of them careful not to make too much noise that the others would hear them and get suspicious. 

"I don't doubt it but I rather not have to explain why you have a broken arm." Wild said as he led the smaller hero out of the cluster of trees. "First things first, we'll get your shield legs so that you don't go tumblin' down the hill right away." 

Wild summoned a wooden circular shield and set it on the ground, motioning Wind to stand on it. "Keep your knees bent when you stand. Don't worry about falling, I'll hold on to you." 

As he wobbled, Wind held on tightly to Wild's tunic. "I'm putting my trust and my life into your hands, please don't make me fall over just yet." 

Wild let out a huff of air that could be described as a light laugh. "How else are you supposed to learn if I don't let go of you? You're going down a slight hill, just remember to keep your knees bent as you go down!" 

With those final words Wild gently pried Wind's white nuckled fingers from his tunic and gave the smaller boy a small nudge towards the lip of the hill. 

Wind didn't make it down that far before he had fallen down, laying down flat on his back as the shield kept sliding down. A moment passed before Wind popped back up with a bright smile on his face. "That was so cool! I can't believe that you kept that from me!" 

"See? That wasn't so bad." Wild teased as Wind sat back down on top of the hill next to him. 

"Can we do it again?" Wind asked, looking at Wild with such a hopeful expression. 

Wild looked up at the sky to see where the sun was standing. They had stopped for the day close to dusk so the sun was just started to set. Surely they would have enough time to have a little more childish fun before the sun fully set and the monsters came out. So Wild nodded in agreement. 

While the two of them went down the hills (Wind falling quite often and Wild stopping himself to see if the younger was okay), Wild actually began to feel his  _ age _ . Of course he was actually a hundred years older than what he actually was but without worrying about the Calamity or saving Hyrule, Wild felt a thousand tons lighter. 

* * *

When the sun had begun to set behind the hills, Twilight had truly began to worry. There were seven people in the cleaning doing various things when there should've been nine. 

Wind and Wild had ran off together sometime and now Twilight was worried. 

"Has anyone seen Wild and Wind?" Twilight asked, his eyes trained on where the two previously left. "It's getting late."

"I'm sure that they'll be fine, both of them can handle themselves if they get into any trouble." Time said from the other side of the cleaning, slightly soothing Twilight's worries. "They wouldn't have gotten far anyway, they know better than not to." 

Just as he was about to open his mouth, Wind and Wild burst into the clearing with dirt and grass stains covering their faces and clothes and twigs tangled into their hair (more so Wild than Wind). 

"Where have you two been?" Legend asked before Twilight himself could, his arms crossed. "Looks like you two took quite a tumble wherever you were off too." 

Wind and Wild seemed to share a mischievous smile before the younger gave a nonchalant shrug. "He was just showing me something and I just happened to not be the best at it." 

Seeming satisfied with the answer, Legend turned back to whatever he was doing in the first place. 

"Wild, how much longer until we reach Death Mountain?" Time asked once the two had settled back down next to their respective packs. 

"About a day or two, depending on how slow we move." Wild answered truthfully. "I would like to spend those days preparing for the heat when we can. If anyone already has heat resistant armor, I would like you to keep it on hand." 

Time nodded slowly, "Then we shall prepare." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone had a good Easter despite it being spent in quarantine. And I also hope everyone is staying safe and indoors!


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild doesn't have a couple of good nights but thankfully, someone is there for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally!!!!!! Wolfie has arrived!!!!!!! 
> 
> This chapter was a beast to wright tbh just because with Wolfie coming in, writing ~changing~ scenes are always weird to me lol. 
> 
> On another note, I was thinking of making a second story once this one was finished so I wanted your opinions!!! this fic would be about Wild trying to learn how to live in a home (so ie in time's hyrule with malon) cause idk about y'all but I bought the house for the sake of memories but never really used it and I low-key headcanon that wild doesn't really know how to live a domestic life style. 
> 
> Anyhow!!!! Happy late mother's day!!! And I hope everyone is staying safe!!!!!

The moon was high in the sky when Wild woke up suddenly with a silent gasp. His eyes kept shifting left and right around the campsite, looking for any sign of danger in the clearing. 

Logically he knew that there should be nothing there looking in the shadows and there were especially nothing in the shadows when they had a rotation of someone always keeping guard throughout the night. 

But every time Wild closed his eyes he was back to one hundred years ago, blood streaming from his hairline, his arms shaking as he used both to keep his sword straight and at the ready to attack any monsters that dared to take another step closer. 

The person was different every time he closed his eyes, Princess Zelda, Mipha, and the other Champions. People who he loved and still does love laying behind him with a various amount of wounds. 

Eventually the people laying on the ground turned into the other eight of his group. Wind's small body laying brokenly across the stone road. Twilight right behind him with Time only a few feet away, swords still tightly gripped in their hands. 

Every blink it got worse until Wild couldn't take it anymore. It was obvious that sleep wouldn't come to him anymore. 

Rolling out of his bedroll, Wild walked up to the fallen log that Warriors was sitting on as he kept guard. If he couldn't sleep, he might as well be doing something productive. 

"What are you doing up?" Warriors asked when Wild sat down besides him, keeping a respectable distance between the two. "It's not time to switch and Time didn't even put you on rotation tonight." 

Wild just shrugged as he raised his hands to sign, he wasn't sure if Warriors actually knew sign language but it was worth a shot considering how his voice was probably shot. "_Couldn't sleep, you can go._"

Warriors looked slightly apprehensive but relieved at the same time. The two of them sat silently before Warriors got up, taking his sword with him. 

"Sky is next for keeping watch." Warriors said instead of wishing him a goodnight or goodbye. 

Wild didn't plan on listening to either accounts of advice. Do instead he settled down on the log, his eyes steelef straight ahead and his hand holding onto the handle of his sword in a tight grip. 

He may of failed protecting his friends one hundred years ago but somehow Hylia gave him another chance to protect a group of people who barely knew him and who Wild barely knew about. 

But he wouldn't fail this time.

* * *

The sun had just barely started to peak over the rolling hills when Twilight woke up and got up and out of his bedroll. 

"Good morning Time," Twilight said quietly so he wouldn't wake any of the still sleeping heroes as he sat down besides his mentor who was attempting to give life back into the dying fire. "Who's keeping watch right now?"

"It was supposed to be Legend but he's asleep." Time said as he threw a stick into the now roaring fire. "Wild is the one keeping watch." 

"I thought he wasn't on watch tonight." 

"He wasn't," Time said bluntly as he looked over to the hero in question who was sitting ramrod straight on the log at the end of the clearing and away from the others. 

A moment of silence fell between the two was they both looked at the newest addition with different levels of emotions dancing around their eyes. 

"I'm going to go talk to him, see if he's okay." Twilight said as he stood up, brushing off any dirt and dust that got into his pants. At Time's nod, Twilight made his way over to Wild, making sure that he made himself known before getting any closer. 

"Good morning Wild," Twilight said as he sat down next to the younger hero. "You're up awfully early." 

"_Couldn't sleep, decided to be productive._" 

Twilight shared a quick look over his shoulder with Time who mirrored it before Twilight turned back and lightly clapped Wild's smaller shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I suppose that we can't do anything about it now but make sure that you get a decent amount of rest tonight. Can't have our guide pass out on us when none of us know where we are." 

Wild nodded silently once, keeping his eyes trained on the horizon in front of him.

* * *

After a day of long walking across the rolling hills of Wild's Hyrule, the moon had finally begun to set and everyone was slowly making their way to their respective bedrolls. All except Wild.

It had been twenty-four hours give or take since he had last slept and seeing as how shaky the last nightmare had left him, Wild didn't want to take any chances of falling asleep again. 

And with them being not even a days walk away from Death Mountain, getting started with making everyone a long lasting fire resistant potion for the others. 

"Are you staying up a little bit later?" Twilight asked as he stood behind Wild, watching what the younger was doing with thinly veiled expressions of disgust when he noticed a lizard. 

Wild only nodded, not looking back at Twilight.

"Alright, Time asked me to do a quick perimeter check before night completely falls." Once again at Wild's nod, Twilight took it as his chance to leave. Twilight couldn't even fathom what had happened in the past twenty-four hours that made the younger like this but he didn't dare press. If Wild wanted to talk, he would eventually. Or at least that's what Twilight hoped. 

* * *

The moon was high in the sky and the fire had completely died out except for a few small clusters of embers that were still hanging on to the charred logs. 

Twilight was on watch for the few hours before they switched off. Everything was quiet and seemingly normal if it wasn't for the fact that Wild was still sitting in front of the now dead fire with glazed over eyes. 

There were days where Wild went quiet for a couple of hours but he always resumed to talk as if nothing had happened, so no one pushed on the matter. But he had never been quiet for longer than twenty-four hours since their initial meeting. And to be frank, it worried Twilight a little bit. 

It was a quiet night so Twilight didn't feel all that guilty about leaving his post. It wasn't like he was leaving the clearing all together. 

In the shadows being casted by the trees, Twilight silently shifted. The others didn't know that the strange wolf-dog that appeared at random and Twilight who just happened to disappear when the wolf-dog appeared were actually the same person. Or perhaps Time already knew, he was always attentive towards these sort of things. Even if Time didn't already know, Twilight trusted his mentor to keep his secret.

Shaking out his shoulders, listening to the jingle of the shackles attached to his two front legs hit one another. Letting his eyes adjust to being able to see in the dark, Twilight padded on over to Wild's prone form. 

Wild nearly slashed Twilight across the muzzle with a dagger when Twilight touched his cold nose against Wild's somehow rapidly cooling yet still fire-warmed skin. 

"Wolfie?" Wild asked, his voice cracking in multiple places throughout the singular word. How Wild knew who he was confused Twilight slightly but ultimately he decided not to dwell on it for any longer. "I thought you- you left a year ago. I couldn't find you anywhere," 

Twilight let out a low whine in the back of his throat as he wiggled himself between Wild's torso and arm. Wild never spoke about what had happened during his adventure except for a few blurbs of storytelling that he eventually told at Wind's excessive begging. 

A moment of silence ran through the man and the wolf-dog before Twilight felt Wild's hand sink into his thick fur and eventually his fingers tightened in it. 

The night moved slowly as Twilight and Wild sat together. Eventually Wild had thankfully fallen asleep with his hand with latched onto Twilight's fur. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not that proud of this chapter nor the amount of line breaks 😔😔😔


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arriving at Death Mountain and exploring the Goron Village wasn't that bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like this chapter :^(((( it's all over the place and I don't remember much from Death Mountain tbh,,, not my fan fav :^(((( 
> 
> It might be a hot minute for me to write this next chapter or reply to any comments because I'm getting my wisdom teeth snatched tomorrow or today (I'm posting this on the 17th) so :^((((
> 
> ALSO (gosh this note is long lol) was reading through the btow wiki cause I bored late at night and apparently link is like 4'10/4'11???? Which oh my God ,,,, if this turns out to be a joke that I foolishly fell for I will cry™

They were about a couple hours away to walk away from Death Mountain from where they currently where on the beaten down dirt path when the others started to feel the ever suffocating heat radiating from the surrounding area. 

Of course, Wild himself wasn't immune to the heat either, he just happened to be used to it considering how long he had stayed inside it all during his adventure. 

"How the Goddess above aren't you melting under that thing Wild!" Warriors tugged at Wild's black cloak, looking at it with disgust. "We're all literally melting in this heat and here you are wearing a wool cloak like you're cold!"

"I've gotten used to it I suppose." Wild shrugged lightly. "Not to mention it's even worse inside the village so this is practically nothing." 

"You're telling me that it's even _ hotter _ in there than where we are right now?" Warriors waved his hand vaguely towards the path that the group was walking along. At Wild's nod, Warriors just groaned. "Dear Goddess above-" 

Ignoring Warrior's complaining, Wild suddenly stopped and turned around. "Before we actually go into the Goron village, there's a few things that I need to know. Does anyone have any armor that is properly made to withstand extreme heat?" 

"I do," Time spoke up from where he stood in the back of the group. "Is there anything that we need to know before we head in?"

Wild gnawed on his bottom lip as he thought. "Don't use wooden items? They will burn up instantly if you take them out. Also, before I actually forget, take these once we enter the mountain completely. These last about eight minutes so once they run out, tell me immediately." 

"What even are these?" Warriors looked at the glass bottle filled with a light orange liquid with skepticism. 

"Just some simple heat resistance potions." Wild answered simply. "Makes the heat around you feel less suffocating. But it _ doesn't _ mean that you can go jumping into fire, you'll still burn." 

"And how did you find that out?" Sky asked, giving Wild a look.

As the others bickered up ahead, Time fell into step with Twilight. "So, what happened last night?" 

Initially Twilight tensed up, giving his mentor a side eyed look. "Did you see everything?" At Time's nod, Twilight's body relaxed. "Wild just had a bad night."

Time hummed at the short response but didn't push any further. "You seem to trust him a lot. It seems that I'm the only one who knows the connection between you and Wolfie." 

Twilight opened and closed his mouth as he tried to find the right words to say. "I- When I'm with him I just _ feel _ like how _ you _ felt when we first met. It just feels _ right _, you know?" 

Time nodded again, clapping Twilight's shoulder. "I suppose I do know. I'm glad to hear that you found someone who'll give you grey hairs." 

* * *

"So Wild," Four asked from beside him. "Where's _ your _ armor? I didn't see you give yourself a bottle and I doubt that you're actually immune to this heat." 

Wild hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose I don't really need it yet." 

"_ Don't need it _ ?!" Warriors parroted back to Wild with an affronted look on his face. "You look like you're about to _ pass out _ because of your heavy ass cloak." 

"If you're asking me to take my cloak off I'm going to have to decline, I've already taken off my hood." Wild bantered back. "We're pretty close to the village anyway, I'll put the armor on then." 

"Can't see why you can't put it on now, it couldn't be worse than this Goddess forsaken cloak." Warriors grumbled but dropped the subject. 

"Wild? Exactly _ why _ are we going through Death Mountain?" Sky asked as he looked up at the hot steam that was rising holes full of hot water. 

Wild hummed again as he thought over his answer. "Spices I suppose, I've always thought that the Gorons had better spices compared to everyone else." 

"So you're telling me that we're all walking up to our literal deaths just so you could get some spices?" Legend grumbled as he crossed his arms. "If you needed spices you could just buy it from merchants in places that _isn't_ in an active volcano."

Wild looked over his shoulder to give Legend a blank stare, sweat practically dripping down his forehead and nose. "The Gorons are secretive about how they get their spices, Death Mountain is the only place to get it." 

"What kind of weapons do the Gorons have?" Four piped up. Ever since he had seen, the Zora weapons that both Wild and the Zora guards had, he had been intrigued with the others weapons. 

From what Four saw from the Zora weapons, they could easily be described as elegant and heavily decorated with jewels. A perfect counterpart to their equally elegant wielders. 

"They don't have any good weapons." Wild said bluntly as he thought over Four's question. "Their weapons are suited for mining but if you want to ask the smith about them, be my guest." 

Four was about to ask for Wild to elaborate on what he meant but a small and possibly young Goron came barrelling down the pathway and started to wave their hands to get the groups attention. "Master Champion! I didn't know that you were coming by for a visit but I'm glad you are! I desperately need your help with something." 

"_ Yunobo, _ " Wild spelt out in Hylian sign language so that the others could learn the Goron's name before switching into another way of signing that none of the others knew. " _ Please calm down and tell me what's wrong _."

The Goron -who was now identified as Yunobo- took a deep breath, his shoulders slumping as he did. "It's Vah Rudania. I'm starting to think that I'm not meant to be considered as one of the new Champions." 

Wild stared dumbly at Yunobo for a moment, his hands hanging in the air as he thought about what to say. "_ Of course you're a new Champion, you've helped me with entering Vah Rudania. Why would you think that you weren't? _"

"They aren't _ communicating _ with me!" Yunobo cried out. 

Wild furrowed his brow as he mulled over the new information given by Yunobo. "_ Alright, give me a couple minutes. I'll meet you up there _." 

"Of course! Don't forget to put your armor on before entering the village!" Yunobo gave Wild a wide smile before waving wildly and disappearing behind rocks. 

"So-" Warriors dragged on. "We gonna be losing our only guide and only source of potions?" 

"The village is small," Wild said, not looking up from his slate to make eye contact with the other hero. "It'll be impossible to get lost as long as you don't wander off into the volcano. And as for running out of potions, I'll hand them over to Time. Remember that you'll only have eight minutes per potion and no time if it runs out." 

"And where will you be going?" Time asked as he accepted the small handful of potions. 

"To go help Yunobo." Wild said flippantly. "It shouldn't take me long so I'll be back soon." 

Time nodded, understanding that things suddenly popped up unexpectedly and needed to be taken care of immediately. "That's quite alright, take your time. We'll end up exploring the village."

* * *

Following Wild's words of advice, the other eight stayed within the village perimeter but broke off into smaller groups. Each of them doing their own things. 

Four had of course found the smith just like Wild suggested he do and had practically set up shop, asking a multitude of questions on how the Goron's made weapons. 

Wind had found a pool of steaming yet surprisingly clear water and begged Time to go in just a few minutes. Time himself was hesitant to allow the younger in, with what he knew from his own Death Mountain and the limited knowledge of Wild's Death Mountain, who knew how hot the water was. 

At Wind's neverending asking, Time finally caved in and asked one of the passing Gorons if said water was safe to go in. 

"The hot springs?" The Goron gave Time a confused look as Time asked his question. "You must not be around from here to not know that us Gorons are famously known for our hot springs!" 

Taking the Gorons excitable rambling as a yes, Time thanked them and bid them a good day before turning back to said hot spring to already find Wind and Twilight already in it. Wind must've overheard his conversation with the Goron and took that as a go ahead to go in it and somehow roped Twilight to go in as well. 

* * *

"Enjoying the hot springs?" A voice spoke from behind them, making Time's eyes snap open and whip to see who was talking. 

Only to find Wild wearing a clunky suit of metal but the face plate of the helmet flipped up to reveal his red-flushed face and sweating forehead. 

"So that's the set of armor you were talking about?" Warriors asked from the side of the hot springs, only daring to dip his toes in. "Not that fashionable." 

"Doesn't need to be fashionable to prevent me from dying from this heat." Wild said bluntly as he stood at the edge of the springs, not taking a seat or even removing his helmet. 

"Did you finish what was needed?" Time asked, defusing the situation before it evolved into something worse. Warriors was known to start small spats when bored but he didn't know how Wild was when his buttons were pressed. 

Wild hummed as he nodded. "Already spoke to the elder explaining what was going on with Vah Rudania so we can leave whenever you're ready." 

"Vah Rudania?" Sky parroted with a confused look on his face. "What is that?" 

"Without getting into all the schematics, Vah Rudania is apart of something called the Divine beasts. Each of the champions of old received one after being titled a champion." Wild said simply, shrugging at his own words. "You guys ready to go now?" 

Wind although was the sailor and the technically a pirate of the group, he was quick to scramble out of the hot springs and stand by Wild. "Where are we going next?" 

"Lake Totori where the Rito live." Wild explained as he waited for the others to get out. "From where we are now, it'll take weeks to arrive on foot both through the mountains or through the plateau."

"So how are we going to get there?" Legend asked, crossing his arms as he gave Wild a look. 

Wild shifted his eyes from side to side, not making eye contact with anyone as he hesitated with his answer. "I wouldn't recommend walking the entire way in foot but that really one leaves teleportation. But even then I've never done it with such a large group of people so I don't know how it'll turn out." 

"We can all figure it out once we get out of this mountain." Time reasoned once he saw Wild's facial expressions get more and more troubled the longer he thought about the subject of carrying extra eight people across the world when he was used to only carrying himself. 

Wild gave Time a grateful look as he nodded and began to lead the group out of the mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember acab and that BLM!!! Donate and sign petitions when you can!!! Also remember that you owe your racist family members nothing!!!!


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group slowly prepares to go into the cold mountains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is hella late because I 1) had a hard time writing it/didn't start writing it until a couple days ago and 2) was without WiFi for a couple days 
> 
> A lot of this chapter is purely dialogue which I'm horrible at writing, I think me writing the dialogue just makes everything stiff,,,, which leads me to hate this chapter even more lmao 😔😔😔
> 
> Anyway!!!! Most of my time has been taken up with writing another LU fic that will hopefully be more angstier and a oneshot (that will once again hopefully be longer than this,,, slightly) so keep an eye out for that in the near future!!!

"I thought you said that we were teleporting to the next mountain." Hyrule asked as the group of nine heroes walked across the plateau. 

"We are, but none of you are prepared for where we're going." Wild replied. 

"And how do we become prepared?" Legend asked, giving Wild a pointed look. 

"Clothes first of all." Wild said, not even looking back at Legend. "Your clothes aren't suitable for the climate where we're going." 

"Why do we require new clothes? Aren't ours fine?" Hyrule asked again. "Is this another Death Mountain?"

"In a way, except with it being extreme heat it's instead extreme cold." Wild answered honestly. "I don't doubt that you've all experienced the cold but Lake Totori and the surrounding mountains is far worse." 

"Do we have to get new clothes? I like the ones I'm wearing right now." Wind asked, holding onto the hem of his light-blue tunic. 

"It's only for a little while," Wild responded, not quite giving Wind an understanding smile but his face was warmer that usual. "If I had any cold resistance, I would give them. But I don't have the ingredients to make them."

The questions quickly ended after that and everyone broke off into their respective groups chattering between themselves as they walked along the beaten down dirt path for the better part of the afternoon until they reached a quaint looking stables. There wasn't as much people as there were in the last stables the group had stopped by but it seemed cozy. 

"I won't bore you with all the mundane chores and shopping I have to do so you're welcome to go an explore the surrounding area." Wild said at the gates of the stables, just before entering it. "Just be careful for any monsters and ask anyone here if you any questions. Oh, and if you see anyone on the roads mention anything about bananas, leave as soon as you can." 

Time furrowed his brow at the new information. "Bananas? What do you mean?" 

Wild simply gnawed on his lip and avoided everyones gaze. "Doesn't matter, just make sure that you ignore them." 

A moment of silence passed through the group before Wild looked around with a nervous look on his face and nodded, posed to leave. "Alright, have fun exploring. I'll be back here in a hour or so, we'll find camp somewhere near-by once I get back."

With those final words, Wild flipped up his hood and walked into the stables. 

* * *

The sun had begun to set when Wild returned back to the entrance of the stables, his arms full with fabric. 

"I bought all that I could," Wild said once he joined the group who were talking between one another about the stuff that they say as they explored around the surround area. "They only had one size so Four's and Wind's are going to be a little big on them. Otherwise the others should be a perfect fit." 

"Why did they only have one size?" Four asked, inspecting the folded pile of fabric that Wild had handed him. "Don't other travelers of different sizes go to where we're going?"

Wild shook his head as he handed off half of the pile of clothes to Time to hand out to everyone else. "No one dares to bring a child up to Lake Totori and no one even let's the thought cross their mind of bringing a child to the mountain. It's far too cold."

"Wild," Time interrupted the conversation between the two heroes. "we're one short." 

Wild furrowed his brows, deep in thought as he thought over his next move. "Alright, who doesn't have one?"

Twilight raised his hand, "I don't but I won't be needing one. My pelts will keep me warm enough." 

Wild gave Twilight a glance that easily painted how inconvenienced he was with Twilight's excuse for not needing the offered clothes. "You'll get one, I believe I have an extra one in here somewhere." He said as he took the slate off his hip and began to swipe through it. 

"What would you wear if Twilight takes the one you have now?" Sky asked. 

"I have a different set of armor that repels the cold." Wild said bluntly as a blue light engulfed his hands and a familiar pile of fabric took it's place. 

"And why aren't we wearing that instead of this?" Warriors asked, eyeing the hood to the outfit. 

"You can only buy this armor in the Rito Village, the ones you have now are typically made for villages lower in the mountains or places that just get colder than the normal plateau." Wild explained as he handed off the outfit to Twilight. "We'll teleport to the mountain at first light. Leaving that early will hopefully give us enough time to reach the village before nightfall." 

"Why 'hopefully'?" Legend asked, putting air quotation marks around the word he was questioning. "Shouldn't it be definite?"

Wild shifted from foot to foot as he thought over the answer before speaking it out loud. "As much as I would like for it to be definite, I have to factor in how long it'll take to teleport you all to the tower. I've never teleported anyone but myself so this is a new experience for me too." 

"But you do know what to do right?" Legend asked again, obviously not very comfortable with the thought of teleporting across Wild's Hyrule. "Half of us aren't gonna get stuck halfway across Hyrule woefully unprepared?" 

"I'd like to think that I have a good grasp on what I'm doing. You'll be fine Legend, there's no need to worry about it." 

Legend frowned deeply. "Last time someone had a 'good grasp' on what they were doing I became a painting." 

"We're putting our trust and our lives in your hands Wild," Time said before Wild could open his mouth and get out the words to question what Legend had meant on turning into a painting. "It's getting dark so we'll camp near the entrance here, I didn't see any monsters nearby so we should be safe here for the night. Warriors, your on first watch. Wake up 'Rule when it's time to switch." 

With those final words from Time, everyone broke off to scramble putting the camp together before it became to dark to do anything else. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to put this low-key rant in the begining notes so I'll put it here. 
> 
> But I'm low-key burning out with this fic, idk if just me struggling with this chapter made me lose motivation for future chapters because I have so many ideas for future chapters that were closer to the end which means writing the middle of this fic kinda just stresses me out and I dont really wanna do it so I put it off until last minute which leaves me even more stressed lmao. But I promise that I won't abruptly stop updating it! I know a lot of you enjoy this fic and I want to finish it for y'all's enjoyment!!! 
> 
> Your comments really do mean a lot even if I don't get around to replying to them or replying to them extremely late 💕💕

**Author's Note:**

> please consider leaving a kudos and a comment, they motivate me to write more!


End file.
